So, we’re back home and decompressing. A wonderful trip, nearly six weeks and never once turned on a TV. What a pleasure. Thanks to all family and friends who followed along, stay tuned.....around the middle of July!

Difficult to say goodbye to this.

We’re winding this one down.....

We have, of course, dined like royalty the last month or so. And Indonesian cooking is rapidly becoming an all-time favorite. Rendang daging has to be one of the very greatest dishes in the known universe. (No pic of that, as the light was very dark & “mood-y.” I made it once and it was pretty good. This the goal: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendang

More Bali temple stuff

Beautiful by night, too

The “Rock Bar” on the property is an amazing place to have happy hour & watch the sun go down. (accessible by an “inclinator”)

We’re off the ship and spending the last two days at a beautiful place in Bali.

The vast majority of billboards and posters all around Bali are for political candidates.

Then the temple of something-or-other. Lotta temples over the last month. Don’t remember the name. But very impressive. (Bali, interestingly enough, is 88% Hindu, in a country (Indonesia) that is overwhelmingly Muslim. Interesting dynamic.

Probably the best one I got.

The bats are pretty interesting too, although in a decidedly less cute sort of way. Rather like my Blighty friend Rob, again.

The monkeys are great fun.

Next was the monkey forest. The ladies who serve as our guides all have big sticks, to prevent the monkeys from being too aggressive. Apparently they are all too happy to relieve a visitor of sun glasses, keys, jewelry, most anything that appeals to them, that isn’t adequately secured.

So, a very busy day in Bali. First we visited the Tanah Lot temple, a shrine off the rocky coast. At low tide, a footpath allows access.

So, we are down to our last 24 hours of the voyage. We’ve arrived in Bali and we have some sightseeing to do today, but then we disembark tomorrow morning. I am, of course, knee-deep in my usual pouty, sulky mood, as I always want these things to go on indefinitely. After we disembark we’ll stay a couple of days in Bali. But not on a ship. 😱😡🛳

On the menu for dragons.....deer & wild boars.

We’re told it was a yawn, but still a bit unnerving. They grow to be 7-8 feet long & 300 pounds. They’re really quite fascinating in a hideous sort of way, rather like my friend Rob in Scotland.

Jurassic Park, Jr. When I was a little kid, I was, like most, obsessed with dinosaurs, and by extension, with the closest extant thing to a dinosaur, i.e. a Komodo Dragon. So today was a wish come true a hundred years later - we were quite lucky and saw quite a few dragons in the wild. No cages, no trainers.

Goodbye to Timor Leste, we set sail for Indonesia.

 

I’m told this snorkeler is...me.

Afternoon snorkeling at idyllic Cristo Rei beach, named for the statue that overlooks it.